Urging Regret
by PolandSpringz
Summary: Ayato reflects on the past few weeks as Yui has been attacked and taken advantage of by his brothers. (Doesn't follow cannon entirely, as I cannot care enough to get too invested into this show.)


"Yui..."

The red headed boy whispered softly as he sat beside the still figure of a pale and sickly girl. Her hair, which was already a whitened blonde was nothing compared to how translucent and snow white it was now. Her breathing was faint, the only semblance of her life was fading, the movements of her rising and falling chest stuttering every so often. The boy glared at the ground, his hand tightening into a fist as he cursed his brothers, his mind flickering with memories on how he had ignored the way they had manhandled her.

"Damn them..." His voice was hoarse and broken at the end of each word.

Yui had come been avoiding them more so at the time, dodging them around the house and coming late or missing meals completely. The brothers, tired of not getting their share, finally ambushed her at the school, in the empty stairwell. Laito came up behind her, immediately twisting her neck as he slipped off her bow and unbuttoned her blouse. Kanato arrived shortly after, and soon the two were carelessly and selfishly tossing her body back and forth between them like a rag doll. Ayato had smelled the scent of blood as he skipped class, and excitedly had booked it to her location. Upon reaching the stairs, he became entranced and seduced by the overwhelming scent. His eyes became cat-like, and he shivered at the memory of how he licked his lips as he swaggered his way towards the stairs, not even batting an eye at her cries for help.

"Ayato-kun...Ah!"

"Shh...Bitch-chan, stop whining..." Laito had slurred in her ear before attacking her neck once more.

"Be quiet already...You're annoying Teddy!" Kanato yelled as he took a harsh bite out of her collarbone, the bear barely in his arms as he spread his fingers across his skin.

"Are you really not willing to share any with Yours Truly? I'm insulted at-" Ayato froze on the first step, watching as Yui's eyes shut, and shortly after her knees buckled. Laito stopped licking the wounds and frowned, and it was only a mere second before the two's eyes glazed over with boredom and they tossed her. Ayato bowed his head to his knees as he recalled the horrific feeling that went through his system as he saw Kanato's hand quickly untangle itself from her wrist before throwing her anemic and unconscious body down the flight of stairs. Ayato raced forward but he was unable to catch her until after he head had already collided with one thick marble step. Cradling her in his arms, he glared daggers at the two of his brothers as he tripped up the stairs as her weight sunk into his arms.

For all the times he joked about her weight, he was caught off guard by how light she was at that moment.

He thought of how his arms could practically wrap around her figure twice, how her clothes folded so easily beneath his touch, being far too baggy than he remembered.

Now, he watched her sleep. Her expression was far from peaceful, and against the stark white sheets of the nurse's office, she looked so fragile. The boy turned towards her, his eyes taking in the unnatural and unfamiliar bags that shadowed her eyes, the cold sweat that was clumping her bangs together. His hand reached out, his brow furrowed, and he used his fingertips to gingerly brush the strands of her hair back. He watched with fascination at how easily the ends slipped from his fingers before they grazed her neck and then fell dead against the pillow. The pads if his fingers danced down from her scalp to her cheek, cupping it loosely with delicacy. He tipped her head forward and leaned in, his nose turned up as he examined her closer. The fluorescent glow of the school's lights dissolved beneath his shadow over her, and for a second he could see the normal Yui, his Yui. But when he pulled back, she glowed the color of a sickly apple's inside. He felt something light patter around and crush everything in his chest.

He backtracked, tracing up the side of her eye before he walked across the bridge of her nose. He tickles her by moving back and forth, and he stares, prays for a reaction. Her black spiderlike eyelashes are stationary. He doesn't sigh, but his frown deepens as he breaks the skin of his lip with a fang. He tries once more, he goes for it, poking lightly at her lids. Discomfort?

Nothing.

His hand falls back at his side and he slouches, memories flooding him. He tries to control the thoughts that he, of all things, would cry over something so silly, but the reality hit him today. When he caught her, felt her, the chill of her skin shocked him and slapped the truth into him. She was a sacrificial bride, this was expected. The church would send a new one soon.

But did he really want that?

He raises his hand again, leaning forward over the girl. His palm lays lifeless against her for a moment, but he quickly flips it over and brushes his knuckles along her jaw and long neck.

The collar of her jacket was gone. Her bow was abandoned in the stairwell, when Laito had sent it flying in the wind. Three buttons were undone, one was popped off. Ayato felt a growing desire fill him as he stared at the scattered pairs of bite marks from all his brothers over the past few hours and days. Reiji normally could control himself, but one could see light punctures from where he had teased. Her shoulders shuddered and squirmed in pain when he tapped on a dark bruised area, and he had restrain himself from doing it again, for just the little movement had raised his spirits. It quickly dropped once more when he checked her neck. Multiple deep red bites were visible, some skin was peeling, and some marks of molars could be seen where someone had violently attacked the girl.

"Subaru!" He growled out, his rage increasing at the sight of each new mark. He tried to vanquish his desire to jump the girl in her sleep, to place his mouth over the wounds his brothers made to reclaim her and his, but he clenched a fist against her leg and bit harder on his own lip.

He kept going.

His hand pushed down her neck to her collarbone, pushing aside the white collar of her shirt. A few buttons slipped out as he moved down, and her bra was soon exposed. In any other circumstance, Ayato would have made a joke about it, but right now, his mind was on one train of thought.

Laito had gone berserk.

No.

They all were to blame.

He could see old marks forever scaring her from when she had returned late home one evening a few weeks back. She had been shoved against a wall, pressed into a couch, and held down as each of them took a bite out of her. Marks were everywhere. Ayato remembered the sound of some clothes tearing when he was taking his share, but he had mainly ignored it, believing that it didn't really matter. Now he thought of the strange seams across her uniforms from where she had desperately tried to fix them before school. They hung on her oddly, they folded in at the wrong places, and the sagged around her stomach and ribs were she had been losing weight. He continued down, beginning to pull open her school blouse more. Her collarbone was littered with bruises, and he could see ghastly thick brown and red splotches peeking out from underneath her tattered bra.

A deep wave of sadness rushed over Ayato harder than all the other feelings of guilt had before. Was that really all she had left? Had they toyed with her to the point that she was left with practically dismembered undergarments as well? Ayato bent over and rested his forehead against her stomach as he sucked in deep breaths of air, trying to control himself. The door to the nurse's office opened slightly and faint footsteps was followed by a calm and collected voice.

"Ayato, the car's here. Get Yui and let's go."

Shu. Possibly the only sensible one in the household. Ayato stood up slowly, rolling ever part of his spine slowly up. He froze as he stared at the girl. Now her face was covered with bruises, every inch of her was turning a sickening, mocking blue and black splotch color as she was consumed with the pain they had inflicted on her. He clutched violently at his scalp, backing up into a medical cart behind him. He whipped around, and suddenly the plain tile of the nurse's office lead to an IV drip. His eyes darted around as he pulled at his hair. There was a heart monitor. His brothers watching without a shred of remorse, their eyes glancing away but their mouths quirked in a sharp grin. There was a deafening beep and Ayato spun around with the feeling of warmth brushing his shoulder as he came face to face with a grave.

He crumpled into a heap, sobbing violently on the ground. He laid his elbows on the gray earth and pounded his fist above her tomb, cursing himself and demanding for her return. Apologizing through the violent bile rising in his throat, he felt himself being shaken.

" _Ayato! Ayato-kun!"_

In an instant, the world was before him. His extravagant baroque ceiling was blocked by blonde hair and red eyes, fair skin and worried glances. Ayato weakly gasped as his hand remained extended, his entire being shaking as his finger twirled itself in the girl's hair. He used his other hand to pull him against him, his mind still trying to process everything. The girl complied and folded against him, her hands pressing against his nightshirt as he placed his nose against her hair. Inhaling roses, exhaling the smoke of the nightmare, he said nothing, feeling the water spill off the sides of his cheeks.

"I'm sorry...I'm so, fucking sorry..." He sobs, and the girl opens her eyes, leaning up to kiss him lightly on the jaw, her hand tracing its path for a moment, letting him know that she's still there, she's still alive and in his arms. Ayato's quivering fingers drummed their way nervously up to the nape of her neck, drawing swirls beneath her hairline.

"I'll...I'll do a better job to protect you...I won't let those damn brothers of mine take you away from me...I'll take you shopping, buy you new clothes. I'm sorry I didn't stop what they were doing to you. I'll fucking kill Kanato if he asks his bear another sadistic question as he looks at you, and if Laito even utters the word "bitch" I'll have him hung by the manor's gate within the next minute."

"Ayato-"

"I won't let them- I can't let them- I won't let myself lose you." He finally croaked out, his arms setting around her waist and squeezing tight, his head now draped against her shoulder, his bangs covering his eyes.

"I swear." He bit his lip once more, sucking his own blood in exchange for his desire to take hers.

Yui remained frozen, feeling something cold drizzle down the side of her neck, but not feeling any pain. She sighed a shaky breath of resignation before she raised her own hand against his back. Pressing her head against his collarbone she shut her eyes, and the two fell into silence.


End file.
